home buying tips

Do you know why Realtors prefer open houses on Sunday afternoons? Many Realtors who take new listings put them on the market on a Thursday afternoon. This gives us a few days to market the Sunday open house to ensure a high number of visitors on a Sunday. I signed a new listing today in Natomas and met our photographer there. Our plan is to roll the property out on Thursday and enter it into MLS that day. I have ordered a Coming Soon sign, which will also promote it, and I will market the open house online in several places. read more

Do you love farm life in Sacramento County? This time of year the fields remind this Sacramento Realtor of the green hills of Wales. I remember the sheep on the hillsides from a vacation there and the color of green was almost fluorescent.

Some people don’t know this about me, but I live in the rural south county area of Sacramento. The land and the trees here are so beautiful. There is nothing as pretty as the fruitless cherry trees in full pink blossom, all the way down my long driveway. There is a gorgeous canopy of large oak trees on the other side of the driveway, by the flowing creek. The brown fence blends into the landscape and feels so natural. Plus, my long driveway offers so much privacy. read more

Buyers don’t care what you tell them as long as you tell them. That’s my opening statement when I hand home sellers a package of disclosures to complete. It’s the things you don’t tell a buyer that can come back to haunt you, not what you do say.

You take a neighborhood where I live and work like Land Park. Because I live in Land Park, I have intimate knowledge about the neighborhood, which agents who live outside of Land Park probably don’t know. If they don’t know, they can’t disclose those facts to a buyer. Although, it could probably be argued that they should know or should at least have asked questions of the seller. read more

Not only is there not a home for every buyer, but not every potential home buyer will buy a home in Sacramento this year, regardless of how much a buyer may yearn for a home. How do I know this? Because I speak with first-time home buyers who want to buy a home nearly every day. I listen to their wants and needs. From this information, I determine whether these buyers are realistic and motivated. See, a buyer can possess all the motivation and determination in the world, but if a buyer is stuck in fantasy land, the odds of buying a home are dramatically reduced.read more

Is it smart to look at homes outside your price range? At first blush, sometimes buyers think, oh, what can it hurt? Maybe the homes are overpriced and the owners will eventually lower the price to my price range? Or, maybe the seller is severally distressed and needs an immediate sale so she will take less.

Looking at homes outside your price range is likely to do one of three things. All three of them can be damaging.

1) You may find yourself falling in love with a home that is so far out of your price range you’ll do practically anything, liquidate any asset, to possess it. When emotions run away with you, that’s how people often end up in financial trouble.read more